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Cake day: December 6th, 2023

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  • Pokemon black/white is definitely an interesting game while still bringing it in to a satisfying return to status quo. You’re initially introduced to team plasma right after you get your first pokemon, and have not only had a chance to catch some early game mons, but are even encouraged to catch as many as you can by your friends. Team plasma, then, provides a stark contrast, the proposal that pokemon should be free from humans, and humans are just oppressing them. You then bump into N, who sees your bond with your pokemon, and has his own worldview challenged, that maybe humans and pokemon are strongest together.

    Further into the game, you discover that team plasma is just a farce to separate people from their pokemon in order to make it easy for ghetsis to take over, and that he carefully manipulated N’s gift to be able to talk to pokemon in order to make him truly believe in the cause of pokemon liberation. And this is displayed through the gameplay as well. N doesn’t have a permanent team. Rather, he uses pokemon from the nearby routes whenever you battle him, and he lets them go afterwards.

    The conclusion of the story is that there is no one right answer, that neither truth nor ideals are the way forward on their own. N is convinced by you through your efforts that pokemon and people are truly capable of achieving greater heights together, while still accepting that there are pokemon being abused that are deserving of help.

    Insert b2w2. It’s a few years later, and team plasma has split. There’s the faction who follows ghetsis, neo plasma, and the traditionalists who still follow N. While the latter is focused on righting the wrongs of plasma’s past, neo plasma has moved to be more extreme, with ghetsis still seeking power.

    Fun side note, the climax with ghetsis and kyurem is the only time in the series where the antagonist tries to kill the player. Not beat you in a battle. Kill you. Directly and personally.